Hasta La Creative!

The Internet is Times Square pre-Giuliani, says Squarespace's Super Bowl ad—the full version of which went live Monday online, a week and a half after a teaser rolled out.

The spot, produced in-house, aims for a grand, dark vibe, but after a decently arresting opening image, it falls flat. It's hard to do convincing futuristic dystopias on the cheap, and it's clear Squarespace didn't put enough dollars into the production of this. If you want to see an amazingly rich, dark, circus-like world in advertising, with great directing and voiceover work, go back and watch Hal Riney's old First Union spots. Then come back and watch this. The difference is stark. You have to pay for it, but it pays off.

Also worth noting: People really don't want depressing messages on the Super Bowl. Here you've got 24 seconds of bleak followed by six seconds of bland. It will bomb on Sunday.

If Dannon's Super Bowl ad teaser left you hoping for a Full House-themed spot in the big game, you're probably going to be disappointed.

The Oikos Greek yogurt ad starring John Stamos is now live on YouTube, and, as you can see below, the anticipated appearance by fellow sitcom stars Bob Saget and Dave Coulier barely even registers as a punch line.

In fact, the ad largely plays out the same as 2012's Oikos Super Bowl spot, focused on Stamos romantically sharing a yogurt with a ladyfriend. But this time, instead of getting headbutted, he gets cockblocked (sorry, mom, there's no other word for it) by his Full Housemates.

For a :30, it's a lot of setup without much payoff. But then again, the same could be said of Stamos' multiple attempts at dairy-centric seduction.

If you're still craving more Stamos-Saget-Coulier shenanigans, check out Dannon's "Bromance" microsite, where you can find a few low-budget clips of the TV uncles clowning around. Or just cross your fingers and hope that the 2015 Super Bowl's inevitable Family Matters reunion turns out more fulfilling.  

Here's this year's Super Bowl ad for Oikos:

And here's the 2012 Super Bowl's largely similar ad for Oikos:

The power of big-event television is on display as perhaps never before.

On Sunday, February 2nd, M&M’S character Yellow will win a victory for sidekicks everywhere, finally starring in his own Super Bowl ad, created by BBDO NY. Mars Chocolate North America announced today that “M&M’S will debut a new 30-second commercial in the first half of Super Bowl XLVIII about M&M’S® Peanut, with Yellow taking the lead role in the Big Game for the first time.”

“It’s about time we remind the world how irresistible M&M’S Peanut really is,” said Seth Klugherz, senior director, M&M’S Chocolate Candies, adding the fun fact that  “Each M&M’S Peanut is literally 1 in 100 – meaning we have to sort through 100 different peanuts, just to find one that’s lucky enough to make its way into a bag of M&M’S Peanut.” This makes me wonder: where do all the reject peanuts go?

The Super Bowl spot is the latest in M&M’s “Year of Peanut” campaign, “a yearlong effort to showcase the irresistibility of M&M’S Peanut” that kicked off “with a star-studded event on New Year’s Eve in Atlanta.” M&M’s integrated “Year of Peanut” campaign will continue following the Super Bowl, with “multiple English and Spanish television, print and digital ads, in-store displays, consumer promotions, public relations and social media.”

As you can see for yourself above, BBDO’s Super Bowl teaser doesn’t give a whole lot away. You’ll have to keep your eyes peeled during the first half of the Super Bowl for Yellow’s moment in the spotlight, as the 30 second ad itself will remain a secret until the big game.

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Perhaps known as well these days for her heartbreaking animal PSAs as for her 1990s hit singles, Sarah McLachlan shows in a new Audi Super Bowl ad teaser that she doesn't always take herself too seriously. 

Audi has been teasing an odd creature creation called the Doberhuahua, which appears to be the star of the automaker's upcoming game-day ad. (You can see reactions to the crossbred canine in another clip below, called "Dog Show.")

In a video released today, McLachlan croons for the misunderstood animal, with "a heart as big as your head." Check it out for yourself:

God bless Newcastle Brown Ale. As much as we all enjoy advertising when it's good, so much of it—as Newcastle would say—is bollocks. The British brewer (with help from Droga5) has always excelled at skewering irritatingly transparent marketing tactics, and now it sets its sights on the Big Kahuna itself—the Super Bowl.

The faux teasers below launch an "If We Made It" campaign, celebrating the Super Bowl commercial the brewer would have made—if it had been able to afford one. The deadpan copy is spot on, and as ambush marketing goes, the whole campaign is hilariously done as it takes down the overblown process of Super Bowl ad rollouts.

Gird your loins for more content to roll out into the middle of next week.

After watching Terry Crews scream his way through many an Old Spice ad, it's hard to imagine him as boring. But that's the premise of Toyota's upcoming Super Bowl ad for the Highlander, in which Crews receives life lessons from none other than the Muppets.

Created by Saatchi & Saatchi Los Angeles and hashtagged #NoRoomForBoring, the 60-second spot, titled "Joyride," features an original song about "unborifying" your life. The Muppets partnership is a dual promotion, highlighting both the 2014 Highlander and Disney's upcoming film Muppets Most Wanted.

Here's the teaser clip, which sets the scene for the Super Bowl spot:

Last week we brought you the teaser for Butterfinger’s Superbowl spot promoting their new Butterfinger Cups, confusingly enough created by Threshold, not Dailey and Associates, who created the Super Bowl spot itself.

If you’re confused as to why Nestlé needed two different agencies for the ads, the above spot won’t exactly help. “Big Game Teaser” is very much in the same vein as the 1:11 teaser from Threshold, a direct follow-up to the events depicted in that ad. The 30 second Super Bowl spot sees Chocolate and Peanut Butter in “cup therapy” with an outdated Freudian psychoanalyst stereotype of a couples counselor. Chocolate talks about her need to try something new and exciting, while Peanut Butter expresses his feeling that “nobody likes change.” The spot ends with the campaign tagline, “Get Some #CupTherapy.” Although the spot supposedly showcases the brand’s “irreverent sense of humor,” there’s really not a lot going on here, and certainly nothing to laugh it. This all makes the decision to oust longtime spokesperson Bart Simpson all the more questionable.

Nestlé seems confident that their new product can compete with longtime peanut butter cup favorite Reese’s, claiming a “recent E! Online poll of consumers reported that Butterfinger Peanut Butter Cups will win the candy industry’s epic peanut butter cup battle.” We’re not so sure unseating Reese’s will be quite so easy, but if Butterfinger would like to send us samples to convince us otherwise, we’re all for it.

Butterfinger Cups are also part of a new greenwashing campaign for Nestlé called Nestlé Cocoa Plan, an attempt to gain an improved public image for the company following what seem like endless environmental, labor, and human rights violations. According to Nestlé, the new initiative aims “to help improve the lives of cocoa farmers and the quality of their products while also assuring a sustainable cocoa supply for years to come. The beans will be certified by UTZ Certified, an independent organization focused on developing sustainable farming and better opportunities for farmers and their families.”

You can expect to see Dailey’s “Big Game Teaser” during the Super Bowl on Sunday, Febrary 2nd, marking Butterfinger’s debut Super Bowl advertisement. Butterfinger Cups are available in stores now. Stick around for partial credits after the jump. continued…

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Have you dared to dream that a reunion of the Full House uncles might someday be in the cards? Well, in the immortal words of a young Michelle Tanner, "You got it, dude."

That's right, children of the '90s, the Dannon Oikos ad in this year's Super Bowl will feature not only brand ambassador John Stamos but also his former sitcom housemates, Bob Saget and Dave Coulier. In the teaser clip below, we see the three briefly discussing their living situation, which has apparently remained unchanged since the ABC sitcom wrapped in 1995. (The reason behind their lengthy domestic bliss might be implied with the bromance-themed spot's odd choice of hashtag, #FuelYourPleasure.)

If you're a big enough Full House fan to get truly excited about this decades-spanning mashup, then you know that the cast has actually had several reunions, including appearances by most of its actors in one of Saget's final episodes hosting America's Funniest Home Videos and at the sitcom's 25th anniversary party in Los Angeles in 2012. 

For lots of other Super Bowl teasers and updates, see Adweek's Super Bowl Ad Tracker.

Two brands of Greek-style yogurt, Chobani and Dannon Oikos, have bought commercial time during the game.